Marbella Day 3 - Trip to Ronda

We are on the western end of the time zone here and its still DST so we are getting a sunrise at about 8:30 am. No wonder we are sleeping in! Well, after breakfast and a few other tasks, we got underway at around 11:00 for a road trip to the mountain town of Ronda. Today is National Day in Spain, commemorating Christopher Columbus's discovery of America. There were a fair number of cars on the road to Ronda which was a twisty 45 km climb to the town. There were times when we were at full throttle for a few km at a time making only 60 kph!

We climbed through a pass at 1065 m and descended a bit in to the town. It is perched on an island plateau and is divided by a huge gorge dividing the old town from the new town. Upon entering the town, I managed to take a wrong turn at a traffic circle and ended up on a very narrow cobblestone alley. Thankfully there was no-one coming the other way and we managed to get back on track.

The streets were packed with tourists and we managed to thread our way through the town and find some parking.

Once past the stress of driving, we started walking and found this place is absolutely beautiful. This town was established in the 9th century and definitely afforded a defensive position with steep cliffs. We walked through the Alemado de Tajo (a central park) and were stunned by the panoramic views.

After soaking up the overview, we walked down the main street to view the gorge dividing the city. There were lots of tourists today given that it was a holiday. There were Spanish flags flying from a lot of balconies.

We learned that Ronda was the home of bullfighting. We passed by the Plaza de Toros, the largest diameter, and most dangerous bull ring in Spain.

The view of the gorge from the newest bridge was fantastic.

We wandered some steep cobblestone streets to reach one of the older lower bridges. There are nice terraced gardens on both sides of the gorge.

We stopped for a bite to eat and did some more street wandering.

At around 16:30, we headed back home descending the twisty highway. Although it was hazy, you could see Gibraltar and Jbel Musa, a mountain in Africa, in the distance.